The Shirt Thief
by phoenixfire74656
Summary: A comedy of errors leads to an interesting evening for Voyager's command team.


AN: I haven't posted a story in a while...I have SO many that remain unfinished from years ago that I've been working on, but I've just had some bad writer's block I guess! This one is brand new from my weird little brain, though :)

Disclaimer: They aren't mine, sadly. I just borrow them to make everything better.

 **The Shirt Thief**

Kathryn Janeway sighed, tossing the padd aside and leaning her head back on the sofa. It had been a long day, and she was in for an even longer night; reports had been piling up on her desk faster than she could read them and, somewhat embarrassed by her recent lack of efficiency, she had dismissed all of Chakotay's offers to help. She had decided that saving a shred of her dignity was worth the chiding she would receive from her first officer and the Doctor for not getting any sleep.

Pushing herself off the sofa, she padded over to her replicator. "Coffee, black."

The replicator sputtered and emitted a high-pitched squeal. Kathryn waited impatiently. _Perhaps it doesn't want to work just as much as I don't want to work_ , she thought bitterly. After a few moments, she repeated, "Coffee, black."

Again, the replicator made some unpleasant noises before completely shutting down all together. "Dammit!" Kathryn bellowed, smacking her hand against the panel. "You've been out to get me since day one," she grunted to the machine.

There was no way she would get through the night without coffee. Glancing at the chronometer, she reluctantly stuck her feet into her slippers and threw on her pink silk robe over her nightgown. After poking her head out the door to her quarters, she silently walked down the hall to Chakotay's door and rang the chime.

When he didn't answer, she rang the chime again. "Computer, locate Commander Chakotay."

"Commander Chakotay is in the mess hall," replied the computer.

Taking a deep, frustrated inhale, she punched in her override code and breezed through the doors, making a beeline straight for his replicator and repeating the magic words: "Coffee, black."

A cup of coffee materialized and she grabbed it quickly, wanting to make a hasty exit before he returned. Taking a sip on her way out, she spewed the cold, disgusting coffee into the air and dropped the cup, out of surprise, onto her nightgown before it thudded on the floor.

"Shit!" she exclaimed. Not only did she make a mess of Chakotay's carpet, but her nightgown was soaked with cold coffee.

Panic began to set in. She would have to clean the carpet before he returned and then get back to her quarters, unseen. She _could_ do a site-to-site transport, but that seemed a bit unscrupulous. First, however, she had to get out of her wet nightgown.

Judging by when his shift had been over and remembering that he was meeting B'Elanna, she'd have approximately a half hour before he left the mess hall. She tiptoed, rather unnecessarily, into his bedroom and opened the first drawer of his dresser.

"Socks," she grumbled, shutting it and opening the next one. "Here we go." She dug through the clothes so that he wouldn't notice anything was gone from the top of the pile and pulled out a soft gray tee shirt. Stripping herself of everything but her slippers and her underwear, she slipped the shirt over her head. Since he was much larger than she was, the shirt fit her more like a dress. It also smelled like him. She smiled and headed back into the living area, throwing her wet clothes into a pile by the door.

"Okay Kathryn, clean the carpet and get out of here," she said out loud to herself. After replicating some cleaning supplies, she got to work on the dirty carpet, but before long she realized that she had made the stain even worse.

Deciding that it was the cleaning supplies that caused the problem and not her own skill or lack thereof, she stood up and moved to the replicator. "There has to be something wrong with this replicator," she muttered. Taking the front panel off, she glanced inside at the circuitry before pulling out wires and a few other parts. _I'll just fix it for him and be on my way_.

xXx

Twenty minutes later, Chakotay hummed to himself as he exited the turbolift and headed to his quarters. He had just eaten dinner with B'Elanna in the mess hall, and he was very eager to get to sleep after a long day.

When the doors to his quarters slid open, his eyes immediately fell upon a giant dark stain on the carpet, as well as a pile of pink satin material sitting off to the side. As he crossed the threshold, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye. Kathryn jumped up from the center of a circle of scattered replicator parts on the floor, looking like a deer caught in headlights.

"Chakotay!" she managed to yelp.

"Kathryn?" he asked hesitantly, glancing around the room. It looked like a bomb had gone off. And was she…was she wearing _his shirt_? "Kathryn, what is going on here? And what happened to your hair?" He took a slow step towards her.

Kathryn tugged at the thick piece of hair that was singed at the ends. "Uh, well...I um...well, I wanted a cup of coffee but my replicator wasn't working, so I thought I'd just pop in here and use yours."

She didn't look like she was going to continue speaking, so Chakotay took another step in her direction. "And that's why you're wearing my shirt and why my replicator is in pieces?"

Kathryn chewed her bottom lip nervously. "Well, there was an accident…" Chakotay quirked an eyebrow. She took a deep breath before continuing as fast as she could. "You see, the coffee came out cold and I spilled it all over so I put on one of your shirts and then tried to clean the carpet but it didn't work so I decided to fix the replicator and it caught fire and burned my hair and now you're here and I should go..." As she tried to brush past him to the door, he grabbed her arm and, softly chuckling, swung her around to face him.

"Oh no you don't. You're going to clean up your mess. I'll go fetch you some clothes out of your quarters, and you can give me my shirt back."

Kathryn gave him an odd look. "That seems a bit unnecessary, it's just a shirt, and I—"

"It's my favorite shirt," he replied softly, tugging at the hem of the sleeve.

"Your favorite shirt?" Kathryn asked incredulously. "I found it at the very bottom of your drawer. Doesn't seem like a favorite shirt to me."

Chakotay gave her a sad smile. "I don't wear it."

"All the more reason why it can't be your favorite shirt," she retorted, trying to move past him again. "I'll just run back to my quarters and change and put it in the recycler, and I'll come back to clean up."

"It's comfortable to sleep in, isn't it?" he asked nonchalantly, turning away from her to sit on the sofa. "Nice and soft."

Kathryn froze, her back to him. "What...what are you talking about?" she rasped.

A flicker of a grin crossed Chakotay's face. "That's the shirt you used to _borrow_ when we were on New Earth," he replied, leaning back into the sofa.

She looked down at the shirt she was wearing. Her eyes widened with horror and she slowly turned to face him. Straightening herself up and crossing her arms defensively, she said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You thought I wouldn't notice that one of my shirts was missing," he continued. "But I'm more observant than you think, Kathryn."

She remained silent for several moments, averting her gaze to the floor, out the viewport, anywhere but him. Finally, in the softest of voices, she murmured, "My pajamas felt itchy sometimes."

Chakotay looked up at her and chuckled. "So you became a shirt thief? Why didn't you just replicate yourself some new pajamas?"

"No, not a thief. I always returned the shirt, folded and placed right where I found it," she snapped back, tentatively stepping towards him. "And I didn't want to waste replicator power."

"Mmmhmm," he replied skeptically, standing up and walking over to her. "So then why didn't you just ask me to borrow my shirt instead of being sneaky?"

Kathryn swallowed nervously, dropping her arms to her sides. "I...I don't know. I guess I didn't think it was appropriate to ask."

"But you thought it was appropriate to take it _without_ asking?" His tone was firm but his eyes glinted with amusement. He inched closer to her, placing his hands gently on her hips. She flinched but before she could say anything, he changed the conversation's course. "I like seeing you in it."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide and her heart thudding in her chest. "Chakotay—"

"You know it's my favorite shirt _because_ you used to wear it," he continued, leaning down and speaking gruffly into her ear. He grabbed at the fabric around her hips. "It smells like you."

Kathryn let out a small, nervous laugh. "I used to wear it to bed because it smelled like _you_."

Surprised by her admission, Chakotay pulled back from her. Searching her eyes with his, he brought his hands to her face and gently guided her to him until her lips met his own. He was even more surprised that she didn't back away, but instead wrapped her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with equal measure.

When they finally parted several minutes later, Chakotay placed his forehead on hers, moving his hands back to her hips. "I know I said I like seeing you in my shirt, but I think right now I'd prefer to see you out of it," he said, suggestively lifting the bottom hem up her thighs.

Kathryn nodded towards the other side of the room. "What about the mess?"

Chakotay shrugged. "I never liked this carpet anyway. Maybe now I can get a new one."

"I'll have maintenance install a new carpet if I can keep your shirt," she said teasingly, tracing his jaw with her index finger.

"Deal. It's yours," he quickly replied, tugging her by the shirt towards his bedroom.

She smirked. "Hasn't it always been mine?"

"Everything I have and everything I am has always been yours, Kathryn," said Chakotay, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ear. "I love you."

Fairly certain that she had stopped breathing, Kathryn stared at Chakotay, her steely blue eyes the size of saucers. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Her thoughts spiraled out of control...the shirt, the flirtations, the kiss... _what had she been thinking?_ All she had wanted was a cup of coffee; how did her night end up like this? She mentally kicked herself for indulging in her feelings and for letting her guard down.

As if reading her mind, Chakotay interjected her thoughts. "You don't have to say anything, Kathryn," he whispered, his dimples disappearing from his face. "Why don't you go back to your quarters and get changed, and I'll start cleaning up."

He was giving her an out. An escape. A way to pretend none of it ever happened. He moved away from her to the spread of replicator parts, picking up the familiar pieces to begin repairing the machine.

Kathryn watched him forlornly, acutely aware that she had once again broken his heart.

A heart that belonged to _her_ , she knew.

Her arms dropped limply to her sides, brushing the sides of the shirt. It was soft, and comfortable, and it smelled like him. When she had pulled it out of the drawer, she hadn't even realized it was the same shirt she had repeatedly worn on New Earth.

Fate must have known...she loved this damn shirt.

Hell, she loved this _damn man_.

Her scattered thoughts finally fizzled out, her mind becoming clear, and she took a few steps towards him. "I love you," she said quietly.

Dropping all of the replicator parts he was holding, Chakotay swung around to face her. "Wh...what?" he stammered.

"I love you," she repeated, more loudly and confidently this time. Their eyes burned into each other for a brief moment before Chakotay closed the space between them, grabbing her small body and slamming it into his, crushing his lips onto hers.

She pulled away from him, suggestively walking backwards towards his bedroom. "I also love this shirt. You're going to have to take it by force if you want it back."

"Is that a challenge?" he asked playfully, following her lead until they reached the edge of his bed.

"It's a promise," she huskily replied. Giving her a lopsided smile, he pushed her onto the bed and she let out an uncharacteristic giggle, coffee and carpet stain instantly forgotten.

xXx

Chakotay's eyes fluttered open at the harsh sound of his chronometer alarm, alerting him that it was time to get ready for duty. "Computer, alarm off," he groaned, rolling over onto the empty side of the bed.

 _Empty side of the bed_. He opened his eyes fully; Kathryn was gone. He sat up, looking around for any sign of her, but it appeared that she had snuck out while he was asleep.

Chakotay frowned at this realization, but reminded himself that Kathryn had a morning routine. _Perhaps she simply wanted to get a head start on the day_ , he thought. But anxious thoughts of her running away from him, dismissing what they had done, wanting to pretend it hadn't happened, unwelcomely creeped into his mind.

He got out of bed and was pulling on a pair of pajama pants when something on his dresser caught his eye. Furrowing his brow, he moved closer until he could see the item in the dim light.

It was his soft gray tee shirt, neatly folded with a padd placed on top of it.

Dread filled his soul. He knew what this meant. Kathryn was giving back the shirt, and had written him some kind of dramatic letter about why they couldn't be together, why what they did was wrong, and how they should both just forget about it and move on.

Chakotay sighed. Moving back to the bed, he sat down on the side where Kathryn had slept and turned on the padd. The note application was already running.

 _Chakotay—_

 _Don't be fooled, the shirt is still mine. I'll come back for it tonight. Have wine ready. I love you._

 _Kathryn_

 _PS- Don't bother making the bed... ;)_

Fin _._


End file.
